Best Served Cold
by the Tormentor
Summary: The sequel to 'My Little Combaticon'. The search is on for Twilight Sparkle, who is being experimented on by Shockwave and supervised by the Combaticons. Meanwhile, Discord returns from the lack of the Elements. His first stop; Cybertron! However, unknown to all parties, an ancient evil more powerful than Discord has awoken, and will stop at nothing to fulfill his destiny! HAITUS
1. History Lesson

**So here it is. The sequel to 'My Little Combaticon.' I've been having a huge problem with the Foster's thing, because my little brother convinced me to start again without Stunticons. So that's why I haven't been doing anything so far.**

**And here we go. On Cybertron, 15 million years ago...**

* * *

Best Served Cold

By the Tormentor

_Cybertron, several million years ago._

_The ancestral being, red and white with wings of age, crashed into the obsidian wall. This was not of accident, but of force. The being, Vector Prime, the guardian of time inherited by Primus himself eased his old body up, and clutched Rhisling between his hands and gazed at his attacker._

_His own brother, Megatronus Prime. His armor, once a vivid combination of grey and crimson, was now pitch-black due to the corruption of Unicron on his dear brother. Now a cage of primal power, Megatronus was now seemingly to be eternally on fire, a consequence of the severe power he inherited by the Dark God of Chaos._

_"Why must you do this, Megatronus?" Vector Prime screamed at his fiery brother, his sword clashing against the blazing edge of his enemy's blade. Vector Prime was so confused. So very confused, the guardian of time was, over the past few days. _

_The awakening of Unicron, and his demise._

_The deaths of Alchemist Prime and Nexus Prime._

_Solus Prime, the greatest blacksmith of Cybertronian history, nearly blasted in half by the power of the stolen Requiem Blaster._

_All of this caused by their angry brother, the one who felt destiny could not control him or his people. All the destruction caused, the deaths enormous, and the very world that they were trying to save was crumbling beneath their feet. His once over-ambitious brother has become the epitome of fury that was once in the hands of Liege Maximo, before his destruction by the hands of Unicron himself._

_Vector Prime locked his blue optics straight into his brother's, the once familiar red now ablaze in an inferno of hatred. For a twinge, Vector Prime felt such pity for his short-sighted brother, possessed by the power of the now dead Unicron and succumbed to his hunger for absolution._

_"It is my destiny, Vector!" Megatronus roared and swatted away his older brother, eager to claim the prize that the last surviving Primes swore to protect with their lives. He stepped up to the golden pedestal, and held by the crafted hands of Primus stood his prize._

_The Matrix of Leadership._

_"At last, victory." As Megatronus sighed for victory to be so near, his hands now coated in his power, a sonic blast knocked his hand away from grabbing the Matrix. Enraged, he looked to his left, and saw none other than the still functioning Solus Prime clinging onto the Requiem Blaster. Megatronus stomped over to his battered sister and crushed the blaster in his hands in front of the blacksmith._

_"Sister, you have annoyed me for the last time." He growled, his fiery frame alive with fury at his sister._

_"Even if you destroy me, Megatronus, others will rise to defeat you and your newfound tyranny." Solus coughed, precious energon flowing out of her mouth. Megatronus grabbed the last weapon she had on her, to prove that he was superior than his fellow Primes and that he was their greatest._

_The Forge of Solus Prime, the tool Solus had used to build so many things for her race._

_"Then I'll just have to DESTROY YOU ALL!" And with that, Megatronus raised the hammer above her head, aligning it with those pitiful optics of the femme who dared to defy his destiny, and brought it down upon her spark chamber, crushing the once-glowing orb into a shell of dull grey. _

_Vector woke to the sound of a scream and saw the horrific sight of Solus Prime murdered by Megatronus by her own weapon. He heaved the hammer out of her chest, energon sticking to the edge and tossed it aside like garbage. _

_It was then Vector Prime realized that Megatronus would not regret his actions. He would never care for his brothers and sisters anymore. Only his 'destiny' remained inside. But Megatronus could not be killed by a fellow Prime anymore, as he could not be killed at all. So Vector Prime sought that the only way to stop his brother was to send him somewhere where he couldn't harm anyone else. Somewhere someone could never awaken this new evil scourge._

_"By the power invested in me ..." He began, and the gears inside of him began to glow and spin as the direct fuel of Primus himself funneled it's way into Vector's spark, realizing that his child had become corrupt._

_" ... of the will of Primus ..." Megatronus noticed this chant before he reached for the Matrix, and scoffed._

_"Do you really think that a chant could stop me? You are a bigger fool than I have imagined, my brother." Megatronus growled and blasted at Vector Prime. The blast did nothing but add a puff of smoke around the seemingly glowing Vector Prime, and Megatronus was aghast._

_"What is this trickery?!" He roared, and brought his sword down onto the glowing Vector Prime, and the sword of flame shattered against his brother._

_" ... I cast you from the Thirteen ..." Lighting struck around the two Primes and formed a vortex of energy around the area behind Megatronus, forming a swirling singularity that showed nothing but a dead universe behind it. This was the Nether, the universe for the evil to dwell eternally, never to return to the physical plane._

_"What is-?" Megatronus began, but his feet suddenly gave as the singularity began to suck in everything around it, excluding Vector Prime and the Matrix._

_" ... and banish you to the nether, declaring you to be ..." Vector raised Rhisling towards the singularity where Megatronus was trying to escape, and a single bolt of magical energy zapped Megatronus off the ground and into the blackness of the singularity._

_"NO! I WILL NOT BE DENIED! I SHALL RETURN!" He screamed, his flaming body disappearing into the darkness, and closing forever with a resonating explosion which didn't harm Vector Prime one bit. The Matrix hummed as it disappeared into Vector Prime, whom was now chosen to be the descendant of all future Primes; Nova, Nominus, Guardian, Zeta, Sentinel and finally Optimus. And with the final breath from the power of Primus, Vector sighed out only one word;_

_" ... Fallen."_

* * *

_Present day ..._

"Okay, so this is what I know; Megatron is sending us to Cybertron to guard Shockwave. But why?" Blast Off asked, obviously not pleased with the fact that he had to get back up to go on another adventure without getting a decent recharge without organics annoying him or the rickety solar winds shaking a shuttle recharge berth.

"He fears of an Autobot attack, Blast Off. Either that, or the ponies from the previous planet returning with a vengeance to recapture their kin." Onslaught answered, him being in position of the command chair.

"Pfft. What's the worse they could do?" Brawl snorted. "Throw pixie dust at us? Plus, the only Autobots on Cybertron are those thieving femmes that Shockwave royally hates."

"Who doesn't hate them?" Vortex asked, slightly mad at a particular memory. "I remember one mission ago I was actually just flying around _normally_, for some damn fresh air, and that blasted red slag-sucker Firestar shot me with a particle ray! I couldn't transform for deca-cycles! When I get my hands on that brat, I'll-"

"Just drop it Vortex, you _did_ get her back, remember?" Swindle said, who was currently on the gunner's seat with his legs propped up against the keyboard. "You practically dragged her across Kaon with a pipe shoved in her throat so she wouldn't scream."

"Oh yeah. That was funny." Vortex giggled.

"Easy for you to say funny, you sociopath. I had nightmares about that." Blast Off mumbled.

"Ease up, soldiers. We're getting a transmission from Shockwave." Onslaught pressed a green button on the armrest of his chair, and the image of the purple cycloptic Decepticon appeared on the large pilot's window.

"Greetings, Onslaught." Shockwave said. "How long are you to begin your mission on Cybertron?" He asked.

"We will be arriving on Cybertron within three cycles, Shockwave. I trust the experiment is going well?" Onslaught answered with a question, hoping not to be sent there for something stupid.

"Rest assured, the experiment is going as planned. Shockwave out." And the screen cut to blank and shrunk until it vanished from the window. Onslaught resumed his position and slumped down onto the seat, wondering what exactly Shockwave was doing.

* * *

-_Canterlot-_

"Princess Celestia, the shuttle will be launched in about three days. Currently, it hard enough to find the suitable materials, but are you sure you just want the five mares to go? No weapons or anything?" A royal adviser asked, who was currently writing down a series of notes taken from a variable source.

The shuttle, built for long exploration, was scavenged from the ruins of the Combaticon shuttle that was destroyed by the Autobots. Though it was harder finding pieces than reattaching them, Celestia made sure that everything was reformatted for the search of her missing pupil. Celestia didn't have a clue where Twilight was taken, but a sliver of data helped her out.

Several weeks ago, when Onslaught was captured by he ponies for his brief interrogation, Canterlot and Manehatten scientists discovered grand amounts of data in his system, including the names of places and planets that Twilight might be on. The names of Caldoon-4, Garrus-9, Alpha Centauri, Earth, and finally Cybertron.

Before he left, Blaster personally told Celestia that Cybertron was their homeworld but was under extreme Decepticon control. Barely any Autobots resided there anymore, and if they did they were probably on the run from the Decepticons. Cybertron was a rogue planet, and it only orbited a star once it was found by one. Blaster told her where Cybertron lied, and was probably grateful enough that the shuttle's experimental trans-warp module was still intact, allowing for easy travel.

The residing Elements; Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were to travel to Cybertron and rescue their friend. Coming along was Twilight's pupil Spike, who was coming as an observer. He would bring back information about the Transformers and Cybertron itself, and how Celestia would defend her kingdom if the Decepticons were to return.

"I'm sure that the Elements will be fine on their own. They've done it before." Celestia answered calmly.

"Yes, they have been over the years, your Majesty. But on the same planet." The adviser said, his words laced with worry for the poor mare stuck on the alien planet.

"I'm sure the Elements are strong enough to overcome any foolish Decepticon." And with her talking done, the adviser left her in the royal bedroom. Celestia walked out of her room to the observer deck to watch the white and gold spaceship being built only a mile away.

But was she making the right decision, to place all her faith on five mares and a baby dragon, searching the universe on the remade carcass of a Decepticon shuttle of which the hand-picked and most brilliant minds of Equestria had absolutely no knowledge of?

"You are sure they'll be fine on their own?" A voice asked behind Celestia, the luxury of being both smooth and calm.

"Luna, the only thing I fear is that they won't be able to save Twilight in time." Celestia answered.

"We shall see, sister." Luna turned around and followed the steps of the adviser not too long ago and trotted out of the bedroom, leaving Celestia to look up to the morning sky in fear.

_Oh, sweet Twilight, please be okay..._

* * *

-_Cybertron_-

In her own vision, Twilight was flying across a beautiful landscape of a thousand colors, herself resonating pure good and holiness that would rival Celestia's own agenda. Her wings were made of gold and encrusted with jewels of all sizes, and atop her head lied a perfectly cylindrical ebony horn.

Currently, in her dream, she was fighting to keep the forces of evil at bay. Her horn swept over their evil lands and resurrected them back to being fair and just. But no matter where she turned, Twilight would always have to try and keep the ever-growing evil. It returned infinitely stronger, and Twilight would grow a little more tired every time she bested it. It would always be on the horizon, the evil hue of black just beyond her reach, waiting to strike at the last possible moment.

As the black wave rose again to fight the glowing alicorn, Twilight saw a prominent figure inside of the darkness.

It was a Cybertronian, but it has seemed to be incredibly old, maybe a great great grandfather in Transformer time. It's arms and legs were crossed, giving it the definition of being in an invisible cocoon of slumber. But as Twilight saw as the black wave reached her lands, the being's eye opened.

There was nothing inside but fire. Pure rage incarnate as it looked down upon the lesser creature.

Twilight was interrupted by a blinding light, and her wings, her lands, and the being of evil was gone...

... and was replaced by the purple ceiling of Shockwave's laboratory. As she attempted to speak, Twilight's mouth barely made a whisper. Her mouth was completely dry, leaving every word a pain to say. And then her hunger kicked in, and Twilight's stomach groaned with the need for sustenance. She couldn't move as the laser cuffs bound her to the slab where Shockwave experimented on her.

As soon as the word _experiment_ was spoken in Twilight's mind, her eyes raced around her body to see if there was anything important missing. So far, nothing was sawed off. As she moved her head, she felt the machine against her forehead. The needles were still painless despite being inside of her skull.

Twilight heard the clanging of metal footsteps, and the huge chestplate of Shockwave appeared over her. His single yellow optic, bone-chilling and emotionless, bored a gaze right at the famished unicorn. A quick scan and the laser cuffs disappeared. Shockwave pressed a button on the module above her and the needles slid out of her head, and the freedom of her vertebrae was complete.

"W-water..." She croaked, barely making a sound. Thankfully, Shockwave heard her.

"You require nutritional supplements after this continuation of an experiment. Luckily for you, I decided against the illogical decision of cutting off your horn." Shockwave picked up the purple unicorn and walked over to a makeshift pen. It was guarded by laser wires that glowed a bright blue, and there was a small bed, two bowls for water and grass and a camera to observe her.

Twilight dived for the water and sucked it up like a vacuum would do with dust, and gobbled down the grass in a hurry. Satisfied, Twilight walked over to her bed to realize she was incredibly tired, and slumped down on top of the cotton-laced cushion.

Shockwave was busy at a nearby terminal, calculating the properties of this 'magic' that would provide an unlimited supply of ammunition if tapped correctly. Though Megatron wanted a singular weapon with incredible power and ran on the magic, Shockwave proposed a more logical route and discovered that if used correctly this magic substance could replace the energon that so many weapons ate up, leaving more for the soldiers.

Megatron was reluctant but agreed.

However, Shockwave proposed that it was also logical that the organics might re-use the destroyed shuttle to find Cybertron. So, he wanted the five mechs that were most experienced in the environment of magic.

The Combaticons. Not only would their experience and first encounters help, but they also know how the organics fight with their magic. Plus, if the organics did come to Cybertron to rescue their kin, they would have to go through Bruticus first.

Shockwave also mentioned that the Autobots would most likely assist the ponies in their future rescue, but Megatron said that they were too injured to even walk, let alone attack the Decepticon-controlled Cybertron. The only Autobots that might help them would probably be the Female Autobots, who were on the run constantly.

The Decepticon scientist saw the glimmer of the Combaticon shuttle ease through space and onto the huge landing platform in front of Shockwave's tower. Shockwave turned to the elevator and pressed the button for the bottom floor. Before going, he glanced a look at Twilight to make sure she was asleep. Concluding that she was, he stepped inside and went down to greet the Combaticons.

As soon as Twilight heard the doors of the elevator hiss to a close, she activated a levitation spell in herself and plopped out of her cage. She knew, however, that if she managed to take the chance and somehowingly escape, where would she go?

"Oh, think think _think_ Twilight! You've survived an Ursa Major, Discord, and Bruticus; how would you call for help if there was a computer in front of you, but didn't know how to work it?"

Twilight levitated herself off the floor and onto the computer to send a message, or anything, to clue her friends to save her.

Only to discover that the symbols on the keys were in complete gibberish.

Twilight groaned in frustration and stomped her hoof in a fury, but in the action pressed a button that caused the screen to go white with static. Twilight yelped in surprise and nearly fell off the computer keyboard. But as she got a closer look, Twilight realized that her face was being shown on screen, courtesy of a camera on top of the computer.

To the left of the keyboard, two buttons; respectively red and green, glowed as soon as her face showed up. Deciding that the universal sign for a 'yes' was green, she pressed the green button, and her current facial expression; terror, was captured on the screen. It was enclosed into a purple file, and Twilight frantically sent it to the stars, hoping that her friends might find it.

* * *

-_Planet of Junk_-

Though never bored, Scrapbolt was somewhat dulled with Earth television. Most shows were nothing more than people either doing incredibly stupid things or dumb reality series that never ended. Scrapbolt sighed, for the only reception that he was getting was through the hacked Decepticon signal for Earth television that Razorclaw would often use to quell Rampage. The Junkion wished that something interesting would pop up.

Suddenly, the image of a terrified unicorn popped up from the old television set. Scrapbolt was confused for a second, and quickly decided what to do.

He changed the channel yet again.

* * *

-_Garrus-9_-

Fortress Maximus got up from his office chair and grabbed the printed report for the Last Resort; so far, 1,149 prisoners, 89 of them in spark extractors and 3 awaiting execution per orders from Ultra Magnus. Handing the report to Kick-Off, who ran downstairs to send the report, the warden walked down to finish his final report.

Said report covered was almost complete, nearly taking half a vorn to finish for the upcoming future prisoners. Maximus typed furiously, eager to get this stupid report done. Though he had nothing better to do in mind yet, a good fashioned visit to Autobot City or Metroplex would help ease his systems.

"Almost there..." He mumbled.

The image of a purple creature came alive on his screen, which caused the warden to jump back in immediate surprise.

"GAH!" He yelped, but quickly caught himself from doing further embarrassment and pressed the end key to get rid of the bizarre image on his computer. Fortress Maximus grumbled to himself.

"Damn hackers..."

"Hey Fort Max!" The warden turned around to see Rotorstorm, Roadbuster, Pyro and Topspin at the end of his office, their optics alive with excitement.

"Pyro, what's going on?" He asked, and the Wrecker shrugged.

"Dunno. But somethin' real weird is going on with the space-bridge..."

* * *

-_Peaceful Tyranny, Epsilon System_-

Vos peered down at wonder from the image on his personal holopad. A scared creature of mostly purple with strands of pink in it's mane, and a single horn atop it's head. It looked like an equestrian sort of creature that Vos wasn't so familiar with. Scrambling out of his room, he called down the hallway.

"Hey Tarn, you gettin' this thing too?"

"Yes, Vos. I am. And I have no idea what it is. All I know is that it's coming from Cybertron." Tarn, commander of the Decepticon Justice Division answered his crewman. His face, re-sculpted into the Decepticon symbol itself, turned towards the current screen he was viewing.

"Maybe one of Shockwave's?" Vos asked.

"Maybe. Purge the image, I'm getting a call from Megatron..."

* * *

Shockwave arrived just in time to see Twilight Sparkle in the middle of his laboratory, levitating a small blaster pointed at his face. Calculating over several thousand options for a direct attack, Shockwave fired his laser cannon at the blaster, which caused it to explode.

To Twilight's point of view, it had seemed Shockwave had just walked in to shoot that gun she found.

"How-! What-!" She gasped, bewildered at Shockwave's superior reaction time.

"It seems I require a more tactical cage to contain you. Luckily, I have brought reinforcements." Shockwave said, his cold cultured voice never betraying a hint of emotion.

Twilight gulped. Usually, reinforcements would either be some cruel bully who liked to push around ponies smaller than himself, or a gigantic sadist all in for inflicting pain on a weaker target. The sound of multiple footsteps clanged in the hallway beyond the door to Shockwave's laboratory, getting closer with every second.

When the reinforcements arrived, a familiar figure clad in green and black armor, with two cannons on his back and an orange visor triggered a memory inside of her head, for she recognized the Cybertronian.

"_Onslaught._" Twilight seethed, earlier memories of the Combaticon commander branching towards a bad part of her psyche. Behind Onslaught stood the rest of the Combaticons: Swindle, Vortex, Brawl and Blast Off.

"Hello again, Twilight Sparkle. When Shockwave told me he captured a pony, I wasn't really surprised. But when I heard that it was _you_, star pupil of Princess Celestia, I hate to admit that I was somewhat impressed." Onslaught said, his arms crossed over each other to say that he wasn't intimidated by the pony one bit.

"I bet Celestia's having a heart attack right now." Vortex giggled. And then, intimidating at his best of Celestia, he said; "Oh, my faithful little Sparkley Warkley! Were art thou? Oh bloo hoo hoo!" Vortex pretended to cry while Twilight growled.

"You jerks, I thought we were your friends!" She cried out at the Combaticons.

"That was before you sided with those blasted Autobots." Onslaught snarled with enough hate to quell Twilight.

"Enough of this." Shockwave said, before the confrontation came to blows. "Onslaught, hop aboard the monorail system. It will take you to your quarters at Kaon."

"Kaon, Shockwave?" Blast Off asked. "I was hoping that I could visit my old home. I heard that it wasn't sold and everything that I own is still there."

Shockwave rubbed his chin. "Very well, Blast Off. You may visit your old quarters."

Blast Off looked at Onslaught, who nodded a yes and the shuttle-former ran out behind his Combaticon brothers. After exiting, he transformed and flew towards the main square of Iacon, which was surprisingly well-built despite being a huge target for Decepticons.

Onslaught and the rest of the Combaticons left Shockwave and Twilight Sparkle to the underground monorail system, which in turn led to their new temporary homes.

Shockwave picked up Twilight Sparkle, placed her back in her cage, and told her a single command.

"Stay."

Twilight sighed. This was gonna be a pretty long vacation...


	2. Dwellings

-_Canterlot Launch Bay_-

"Hey hey wait up!" Spike called out, the three backpacks that he was carrying fumbled over his tiny shoulders. Rarity, having a moment of blight on the dragon, used her magic to pick up the fallen luggage. Spike laid a crestfallen smile at the lavish unicorn.

"Gee, thanks Rarity."

"It's no big deal Spike. After all, we are headed-"

"TO SPACE!" Pinkie Pie interrupted them, her head popping between theirs.

"Yes, Pinkie." Rarity huffed, slightly annoyed at the party pony for ruining her perfectly trim mane.

As the three continued to trot and walk through the Canterlot tower, they came upon the massive iron door. It was dual-hinge, with decorations of stars and galaxies swirling around the bars that lay inlaid the titanic metal opening. Two guards nodded to each other as the dragon and ponies approached with luggage in tow. They grabbed both handles on either side and pulled the door open.

Behind the door stood the magnificent Equestrian shuttle, rebuilt from the ruins of the one the Combaticons used. Brilliant colors of gold and white trimmed the transport with grace. Flying around the shuttle, like flies around a light-bulb, were hundreds of pegasi workers, physicians and scientists all testing system calibrations and checking to see if everything was safe for the five Elements and the observer. One of them was a blue blur, until it landed right in front of them.

"About time you guys made it!" Rainbow Dash touched down with ease in front of the late travelers, her face wielding a scowl underneath her rainbow mane.

"Sorry Dash dearie, we got tied up with Spike's luggage." Rarity said, and Spike blushed.

"Are you slow-pokes ready are not?" Applejack cried out in front of them, already at the entrance to the shuttle along with Fluttershy. Said pony did a meek squeak behind her pink mane at Applejack's hollering.

"Yeah yeah, whatever." Spike rolled his eyes.

The entrance to the shuttle was a sleek silver door, guarded by two elite guards. One of them, a black trimmed stallion, walked up to Applejack and spoke.

"Identifications, please."

Applejack shifted inside of her satchel, and pulled out what seemed to be a large card with her name and face on it, and gave it to the guard. He nodded, handed back the card to the farmer, and called out; "Next!"

This went for the rest of the four ponies and the dragon. Fluttershy took several awkward minutes to find her ID because of her extreme fear, but she found it courtesy of Spike's intervention. Rarity found her card, but it was covered in makeup. One of guards most likely had a distaste for anything girly because he backed up and let his partner identify it. Pinkie Pie had no problem with her's, but just couldn't shut up and let the guard do anything.

Spike pulled out his, but as he gave it to the guards, he noticed that they were looking at something behind him, and bowed. Spike was confused.

"What-what are you-?" He looked around to see just what the guards were looking at, and was shocked.

"_Celestia?_ What are you doing here?" He asked, forgetting to accept royalty.

"I am coming with you." She said. "You will need protection. Plus, I love space-travel."

"You've done this before?" Spike said, and Celestia laughed.

"I am a goddess, Spike. I am immune to the freeze of space." She answered triumphantly. Spike was bizarrely unfazed.

"Celestia, forgive me for saying this, but I don't think that a few harmony spells and light tricks will stop one of Bruticus' fists." Spike said, with a slight hint of venom. "You might be able to lift the sun every day, but I don't think it'll stop that Decepticon."

"Are you doubting me, Spike?" Celestia asked.

"No, Your Majesty. Just worried." He said.

"About who?"

"About you." He answered, to Celestia's surprise.

"What could you have to fear for me, dear Spike?"

"If those Decepticons managed to capture you, do you know what they'll do? They'll cut you open, dissect you and turn you into a weapon." Spike finished, with his mouth trembling and his eyes watering from the overwhelming emotion. "Twilight's probably suffered the same fate..."

"Do not speak with such hopelessness, Spike. We _will_ find Twilight, and we _will _save her." Using her hoof, she brushed the tears off Spike's face, and the baby dragon nodded with appreciation.

"Now, let's go find out friend."

Celestia and Spike walked behind their friends, stepping into the shuttle and sealing the door behind them.

* * *

In the Canterlot Garden, home to many types of brilliant plants, there stood many predominant statues of unearthly creatures and monsters. One of them looked as though it was a giant puppet; pieces sown together on a thin body. His arms stuck out as if he were defending himself from something, and seemed to be in pain as he blocked what was attacking him.

The statue of Discord stood in the center, with two guards watching over him.

What they didn't notice however was the small crack on his chest that seemed to be growing.

And inside his magical stone tomb, the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony giggled for his inevitable return...

* * *

_Upper Iacon, the Tower District_

It was nighttime on Cybertron, but then again, it was always nighttime. There was rarely a sun that Cybertron orbited around, and occasionally there will be some instances that Cybertron will pass by closely, but never lock in orbit. The metal world and it's two moons were destined to stay just outside of the galaxy.

Blast Off didn't mind that. If Cybertron was to be threatened, then he would have felt more active for his homeworld. But Cybertron is here, and everything is just fine, despite the four million year old war.

Blast Off's lavish apartment was just how he remembered it; a tall, decorated ceiling, a couch hand-designed by Atomizer (before he became an Autobot) and a large bathroom with an oil Jacuzzi. It wasn't damaged or raided like the other buildings. Blast Off left a lock on his building before he left to join the Decepticons. At least there were still some Decepticon mechs and femmes who lived here and weren't out for blood like animals. They were noble, worthy 'Cons who just wanted to live a good life, like himself.

But he knew that he couldn't stay here permanently. Duty would call, and he would have to leave his home for war. But then he could always go rogue and abandon the Decepticon cause, but then Blast Off would have to deal with the DJD, and those five psychopaths gave any hard-wired mech the chills. Blast Off could retire, but when? When the war ends? When _will_ it end?

"Humph, sometime around _never_." Blast Off said to himself while resting on his porch. He was enjoying the latest to the _Wreckers: Declassified _by the neutral Cybertronian Fisitron, or at least to his belief. Nobody saw Fisitron, and nobody will. For a Decepticon enjoying something about Autobots that didn't involve them exploding, Blast Off was enjoying himself.

-_Blast Off, this is Shockwave, come in.-_

Blast Off groaned. _-This is Blast Off, Shockwave. I read you.-_

_-Have you detected any anomalies?- _Shockwave asked.

_-Um, no-_

_-Excellent, Shockwave out.-_

Blast Off turned and walked back into his apartment, slightly confused by Shockwave's question. He subspaced his datapad and got up from his place on his porch as a group of Seekers flew by.

"Must be more of his experiments." He mumbled, and opened up another bottle of energon from Maccadam's Old Oil House in the High Council Pavilions of Iacon. If it was another one Of Blast Off's fine habits, it was enjoying the best of Cybertron's delicacy and brewery.

As he sat down to enjoy more fine taste, someone knocked on his door softly. Wondering who it was, he put down his bottle and walked to the door. Surprisingly, nobody was there when he opened it. His yellow optics wheeled in confusion.

"Huh. Must be hearing things."

"Nope; just your friendly Decepticon aft-kickers." Said a female voice behind him. As he turned around, he realized who it was. The femme, pink and white, had two antennae on her head and a blue dome on her chest, along with the Autobot vigil. In her hand was a pallet rifle with a dis-proportionally large scope on the top, perfect for taking out objects at a long distance. Blast Off would know; he is the Decepticon's greatest sniper.

"_Elita-One._ How the slag did you get in my apartment?" Blast Off asked, obviously not pleased at the femme's intrusion.

"A little birdy told me that a certain Combaticon moved back into Iacon, the Tower District. And I know only one, a certain egotistical shuttle-former, that lived there." Blast Off winced at being called egotistical, but wasn't about to say anything with a pallet rifle at his face. Elita smirked at Blast Off.

"Lemme guess; Sky Lynx." He deadpanned. Elita-One smiled.

"Good job, Com-_brat_-icon." Blast Off looked behind him to see Chromia, Moonracer and Firestar, a good chunk of the Female Autobots, right at his doorway. Each were armed with guns and probably an appetite for shooting someone with a Decepticon badge, i.e. him.

"Oh, _perfect_." He face-palmed. "Now I've got **four** femmes here."

Normally, Blast Off wouldn't mind a visit from a femme, but on these occasions he begged to differ. These were Autobots, thieving cave-dwelling scoundrels who couldn't find a decent life even if it hit them in the face. He didn't want any part of being around others who were lower than him, especially since they were Autobots.

"Hey Firestar, check it out! Branded energon from Maccadam's! Haven't seen these in vorns." Moonracer chirped, and Blast Off realized she was in his cooled containers that he left foolishly open. In her hand she held one of the oil bottles, and a container in another.

"PUT THOSE BACK, YOU THIEF!" He roared, and the startled femmes immediately did what he said. Elita pressed her rifle against Blast Off's head in a way to say; _don't do that again._ Blast Off sighed to himself as his anger dipped to normal level.

"Alright, spit it out. Whaddya want? Energon?" He asked Elita.

"No, actually." Elita-One's face went from delightful and coy to dark and complete seriousness. She pressed her pallet rifle straight into Blast Off's neck wiring, startling the Combaticon sniper.

"What is Shockwave doing?" She snarled, digging her rifle down his cables.

"Gimme one good reason why I should tell you." He spat back.

"Gimme one good reason why I shouldn't blast your head off." Elita responded, and Blast Off smirked behind his black mouthplate.

"Is the sudden mood change from the bitterness of being left behind by Optimus?" He sneered, and Elita pistol-whipped viciously him across the face. Her fellow Autobots looked at her anger in surprise. Blast Off caressed the small scratch that had taken it's place on his face.

"Don't you dare say _anything _about Optimus. He's more respected than you'll ever be." She growled coolly. He grabbed the Combaticon sniper by the mouthplate and brought his head up to hers.

In his mind, Blast Off was in a swirling soup of fury. Optimus had no relations and barely a speck of currency in his subspace. These femmes have the gall to break into his personal place, try to steal his energon and then threaten to kill him? Done with their annoying antics, Blast Off looked directly at her, calmly and with utmost precision, and said;

"Go suck on his interface module."

The female Autobots, Elita included, looked at Blast Off as if he just emptied his fuel tanks on the Matrix itself. Blast Off is a Decepticon of noble air: he didn't indulge in killing or take commands lightly. He was dependent on nobody but himself. And what he didn't do was use such profane language. According to his profile in the Teletraan system, he was too 'noble' to say anything derogatory.

Elita snarled and punched Blast Off straight in the mouthplate.

"Now tell me; what is Shockwave doing?" She asked again, not in the mood for anymore insults.

"Now I know why Vortex hates you all." He mumbled, and felt Elita's rifle at his head again.

"I won't ask again, Blast Off. What is he doing in his tower?"

"Why the hell does it matter to you anyway?" Blast Off asked, his face in pain from Elita's brutal attack.

"Because we're Autobots, Blast Off. We protect life." Chromia answered for Elita and the pink Female Autobot nodded at her blue friend. Blast Off rolled his optics.

"Okay, I'll tell you. He's working on a new weapon. Happy?" He bared, and Elita released her rifle from his neck. Blast Off sighed with relief as the weapon's brunt exited his cables, and wrapped his hands around his throat.

"What kind of weapon?" Elita asked, her dark demeanor vanishing under a blanket of concern.

"How the slag should I know?" He thundered. "You know how Shockwave is; secretive and lonely. Now get out of my home."

"Come and make us, Decepti-creep!" Firestar called out, and Blast Off vented behind his mouthplate. It was only Elita-1 stopping Firestar from saying anything more before a fight could break out in a Decepticon's apartment.

"Autobots, let's move." Elita said, and looked behind herself to eye Blast Off. Said Combaticon was currently checking his cooler to see if they stole anything. Elita transformed into her cyber-car alt-mode and drove off down the wide hallway. She was followed by Moonracer and the others. Inside, Elita was having an in-depth discussion with herself, deciding whether this weapon was powerful enough to make her worry.

_'If Shockwave really is making a weapon, then we'll need more firepower to combat it. And then there's the Combaticons, and Blast Off's probably radioed them by now. I'll talk to Alpha Trion.'_

* * *

_-Kaon-_

"This is where we're staying?" Brawl asked, barely containing his rage.

Onslaught knew that this was a dump even before his squad reached Kaon. He should know, before the great war he was a general that often visited the gladiator city. And boy was it trash; the most decent way to live in Kaon was to get out of it's walls. Inside, buildings collapsed daily, fights occurred practically everywhere and people often sold their bodies for some coin.

Many people thought that Megatron made Kaon his capital because he was raised in it. No true, for Megatron used the symbol as a tool against the deeply corrupt Senate. He took Kaon as a visual for his followers to believe that the Senate didn't care about them, and how they didn't bother to restore Kaon.

Now, Megatron had workers rebuilding Kaon from the ground up. Sadly, only a small amount of the city had been rebuilt, leaving the rest to crumble. Decepticon civilians (Vortex said that sounded incredibly stupid) have already recolonized the rebuilt areas, but scoundrels and second-stringers still lived in the original parts, clinging onto a sad existence.

Onslaught also spotted Autobots, but the looks on their faces told the Combaticon commander that they lost the will to fight a long time ago.

They arrived at the metal building that Shockwave told them where they would be staying for their period on Cybertron. It was covered in graffiti, dried energon from fights and-

"Is that an _ARM?!_" Swindle gasped, and nearly purged his fuel tanks.

Vortex walked over and picked up the arm, and a strand of gelatinous energon stuck to the bottom of the arm. Swindle puked, and Brawl slapped him for getting his vomit on his treads.

"This is sad." Onslaught mumbled to himself at the sorry state of what the east side of Kaon was.

"I say we go back and live with Blast Off." Swindle said while brushing his mouth. "At least he knows how to live nicely."

"The very sight of this being our homes would make him have a spark attack." Vortex countered, "And yes, I say we live at Blast Off's place."

"No wait!" Said a weak voice from the building. Stepping outside was a Decepticon, but looked so worn it's as if he didn't sleep in vorns. His hands were covered in old materials from a lifetime of cleaning. Behind him was a femme, Decepticon badge on chestplate, who was holding two sparklings. She looked as worn as her husband. Her mouthplate was cracked in certain areas. The very sight made Onslaught's spark wane with sorrow; this poor family was barely making a living. Vortex and Brawl looked away in pity, while Swindle put his hands in front of his mouth.

"Please." The femme begged, "We-we rarely get customers, and when we heard that Shockwave himself was sending you here, we nearly fainted with joy. He promised us a new life for our kids, but if you were to deny our place, then..." She couldn't finish as coolant crept down her face. Swindle, nearly on the verge of crying himself from the pitiful sight, walked up and brushed off the tears.

"Thank you." She said, and her mech partner hugged her.

"Will you stay?" He asked. "We don't have much, so don't expect this place to be like the High Council Pavilions or the Tower District."

"It's fine. We'll stay. What's your names?" Onslaught asked.

"My name's Wayward. And my wife here is Shortcut." Wayward said, and Onslaught shook his hand. The Decepticon hotel owner smiled at the larger and much cleaner mech, while Onslaught looked with pity at Wayward and his family.

"You're the Combaticons, right?" Shortcut asked, and Vortex nodded at the femme. Usually, Vortex liked a bloodthirsty femme like Flamewar or Slipstream who shared his level for sadism and gleeful murdering. But Shortcut looked so peacefully secure of herself that Vortex stared at her dumbly. She had a nice chestplate, caring eyes and strangely, Vortex liked that mouthplate on her. Wayward might not be a soldier, but knows good taste in femmes. Her shoulders creaked when she knelt down do drop her sparklings.

_'Probably from living in this dump her entire life.'_

"You guys are so cool!" One of the sparklings said, her beady blue eyes shining with joy. She ran up to Brawl and sized him up, then turned back to her mother.

"Shortcut, can I get a tank alt-mode?" The little femme asked, and Brawl gave a little chuckle along with Vortex and Swindle. The sight of a femme turning into a tank made the Combaticon heavy-hitter lighten up.

Onslaught smiled behind his mouthplate.

_Even in the worst situations, people find a way..._

* * *

"And you're sure?" Alpha Trion asked the yellow hologram of Elita-1, rubbing his plastic beard with worry. The old Autobot had enough to worry about when word got around that the Combaticons were on Cybertron, but now Shockwave was making a super-weapon.

_-Yes, Alpha Trion. Blast Off said it himself.-_

"He could be lying." Alpha Trion argued.

_-And how can we make sure that this isn't a lie, that Shockwave really is building a gigantic weapon?-_

"I will contact Optimus back on Earth; he will help." Alpha Trion cut off the communications relay and the hologram dissipated. He sighed, wishing that Elita would look onto herself than onto the old inventor.

Or the last of the Thirteen. Alpha Trion kept that secret hidden beneath his caring outer layer, along with the Covenant of Primus and the Quill. Two objects that could re-write history, and in the wrong hands could spell doom for the entire universe.

_'If only there was a way to stop this petty war.' _He thought to himself deeply.

_**"Petty? How very thoughtful of you, Alpha Trion, my brother."**_From the shadows behind Alpha Trion came a deep, booming voice. One that Alpha Trion knew so well from the stories of the deceased Vector Prime.

"Megatronus." He said simply as he got up, and the body of his eternally burning brother walked out from the darkness. Alpha Trion gasped with fright, but Megatronus held a hand. Alpha Trion couldn't believe what was happening; here, in his own base, the Fallen was walking again.

_**"Don't embarrass yourself, this is just a hallucination. Megatronus is long gone."** _

"You're right he is; he died as soon as he shook hands with Unicron." Alpha Trion snarled as he pointed his finger at his brother's image. Suddenly, he was thrown across the room and into a terminal. The startled Autobot fumbled to get up from his sheer shock.

"How did you-?"

_**"Just because I am not in the living plane doesn't mean my powers are contained. But heed my words, Alpha Trion. My time will come, and the Fallen will rise again. It shall be caused by the two scientists and the weapon." **_The Fallen said, and disappeared back into the shadow.

"_What does that mean?" _Alpha Trion bellowed.

**_"In time, you shall see, for it is my destiny..."_**


	3. Launch

Chapter 3: Launch

-_Canterlot Launch Pad_-

Sitting up high in the command chair of the Equestrian shuttle, Celestia observed the final countdown on a large black screen in front of her ship. Her Elements, all bound up in seat-belts and swiveling chairs, chattered among themselves before takeoff. Pinkie Pie looked ecstatic for the trip out to space. Applejack was worrying about her farm while Rainbow Dash tried to calm her down. Rarity and Spike were chatting over something involving space and how it ruins fashion. Fluttershy was, well, being herself; quiet and sheepish. Celestia, however, was not sharing their enthusiasm.

She had good reasons. One for her sister Luna, who was to be in charge over all of Equestria. Though Celestia never doubted her abilities, the fear of Nightmare Moon still hung over the heads of paranoid ponies everywhere. It would be a huge propaganda agenda against her sister, something that Celestia would fear to cause the collapse of the Equestrian Empire.

There was obviously her second and most important, Twilight. Cybertron was super far away from her planet, and her teleportation skills were too underpowered for such a journey. LaurFaustia help the poor unicorn, trapped on a planet full of Decepticons. She fought at the thoughts of Twilight being turned into a weapon of mass destruction, her own body torn apart and abused for the sake of death.

_'The Decepticons will pay for this gravely...'_ Celestia thought, and for the first time in many years, she realized one thing.

She _hated _something.

It was sickening to her, a kind benevolent leader pulled down to a vicious tyrant. She would not become the next Discord, or any other monsters out there in the universe. But hate empowered her, it strove her to conquer her problems and sometimes enemies. Luna was not the only one with a dark side...

_'No. Never again. Never will I use that horrific persona ever again.' _Celestia ranted to herself, but not before thinking of Twilight and Shockwave...

Shockwave. Celestia heard from Blaster that he was once a senator in a corrupt government that he tried to mend, but was disgraced and molded into a new body without emotions, hence his 'careless' attitude and proper tongue. Shockwave is now a Decepticon scientist, nicknamed the 'computer on legs' by the Autobots for his severe devotion to logic. And he was now controlling Cybertron under his lidless yellow eye in the captured Autobot capital of Iacon.

And Twilight was under his control as well.

Celestia would make sure that Shockwave would be on his knees begging for mercy if she ever found her student buried inside a cannon. The very thought shook her. She was powerful in restoration, but Celestia was limited in her ability to restore people physically.

"**_Countdown: three minutes to launch._**"

Good thing Celestia would be getting there soon. She hated waiting, and she knew her student was counting on her.

_'Twilight will be saved... no matter the cost.'_

* * *

-_Canterlot Garden_-

Discord brushed off the small amounts of dust on his shoulder and stretched upwards. He let loose a massive yawn, and spawned a strawberry smoothie in his hand and gave a big slurp of the delicious treat. Celestia never knew how thirsty one might get from being trapped inside dry stone.

Discord wasn't surprised by the fact that Celestia herself had posted guards around his stony self. Sure, they were brave and heroic and all that other goody stuff, but Discord thought they looked so much better as a pair of adorable puppies. As soon as he came out, he even greeted them with a friendly "Hello." The guards charged, obviously thinking like the idiots Celestia kept around her. It wasn't fair for them.

"Now, what to do?" He asked himself, the old spirit mused while straggling his beard. He could steal the Elements again and hide them, but there was something wrong. It was almost as if there were missing pieces, like an Element wasn't there...

"**_Countdown: three minutes to launch._**"

"Hm?" Discord heard the booming voice of pony behind him and leered to see for himself. He walked over to the edge of the garden and stepped over the edge. He looked down, and saw the biggest thing he ever saw on Equestria.

"Wow." He mumbled to himself, awed at the gigantic gold and white metal thing that was placed in front of the Canterlot tower. It was shaped like a circular building surrounded by hollow steel beams, most likely construction work areas. Pegasi fluttered like bees around their hive as they scrambled to and fro among the giant red pad on the bottom of the building.

_'Wonder what all that countdown business was...' _

He snapped his fingers and teleported inside.

* * *

-_Iacon_-

Shockwave pressed another button on the computer keyboard, and Twilight was again drained of magic. Using her as a living battery, Shockwave had recently built a prototype blaster that ran on magic. It was crude and small, but still in development stage. It required one charge after firing sixteen to seventeen shots of magic-encased plasma, and Shockwave sought to fix that.

Twilight fought for breath after Shockwave administered his final pump. She felt exhausted. His want for Twilight's magic wasn't met until the very last drop. She cast a dark glare at the former Senator, which he looked at with barely a thought. He knew that he could easily vaporize her little self, but she was too valuable to his experiment.

He gripped the gun with his hand and fired at the dummy standing at the opposite edge of the laboratory. The shot went straight through the dummy and plastered the wall with a purple cloud. The smoking, glowing hole in the dummy's chest had some sort of pink glow.

"Impressive. It seems your magic works greatly as an armor-piercing shell. However, for maximum carnage against the Autobots, I will need to study this more tomorrow." He walked down towards the end of the lab, where several rectangular outlines were on the wall. Shockwave tapped one, and it popped out.

Shockwave placed the weapon into the slot, and a bright blue holographic projector came up. Shockwave's purple body was too big for Twilight to see anything, but she could hear the sounds of him locking in a code. The hologram dissipated and the Decepticon walked out the laboratory.

The machines around Twilight retracted, and she heard another mech walk into the room. It grabbed her neck viciously with a grey hand, and from there she knew that she was in the grasp of Vortex. She began to kick lightly in a form of a pathetic protest, and Vortex squeezed her body in order for her to stop.

"Now now, no struggling." He purred, and bent her head upwards towards his red visor. "Otherwise you'll be taking a very long nap that you might not wake up from."

The Combaticon interrogator let go of Twilight over her cage, and she landed with a hard thud which bruised her leg and cut her chin. She rubbed her chin with a hoof, and gasped when she found blood. She whirled towards Vortex in a fury and screamed at him.

"_You jerk! _You cut my chin!"

"Oh, boo hoo." Vortex sneered, and Twilight bared her teeth at the helicopter.

"Aren't you supposed to be somewhere and being useful to someone?" She asked angrily, and Vortex mused.

"Got nothin' better to do."

"So bullying me gives you sick pleasure?" She asked, slightly disgusted.

"If I were bullying you, you'd be on your knees begging for mercy."

"You titanic sadist..." She mumbled to herself, putting a mental note to try and get back at him. Vortex turned around, went through the same door he came in, and was replaced by Brawl, someone who was probably more suited to taking care of her. Brawl just sat down in front of Twilight's cage and watched her. The tank-former put his head between his hands and leaned forward.

"Hey Brawl," Vortex called out from beyond the hallway, "Try not to have too much fun."

"Yeah yeah..." He mumbled. He sounded tired, as if he just woke up.

Twilight plopped her head onto her pillow and began to sleep. Or at least she tried until what she described as a mile-thick tree trunk being sawed by a equally big saw. Her eyes popped open and focused onto the sound.

In reality, Brawl had fallen asleep after only five minutes of watching her. His body slowly rose and fell as he went into slumber.

Twilight smirked, and began to plan out her escape.

* * *

-_The Ark_-

"Optimus, with all due respect, I think this mission is an utter waste of time!" Blades called out from inside the armory. "So what if Shockwave makes a new weapon? He builds thousands of them all the time. And then Wheeljack gets makes one, and then Ironfist and then," Blades shuddered, "Brainstorm might make one."

"Blades, shut up." Streetwise shouted over at the opposite end of the command bridge, as he watched the Teletraan security system with Smokescreen.

"Hot Spot, is your team ready?" Optimus asked, a picture of the space bridge on Teletraan's giant screen.

"Almost, Prime." The Protectobot leader called out, and turned to face Prime. "First Aid's packing her medibag and Blades is getting his weapons ready."

"Excellent." Optimus walked over to where Prowl and Red Alert were working on the monitoring of Cybertron from hacked cameras. Secretly, Red Alert wished that he could just stop and use his own, because knowing Shockwave he'll probably set up a virus to destroy Teletraan, or worse. Prowl suggested that this was possible, but sure as slag didn't want to send the Protectobots into a Decepticon-riddled area.

"Prowl, Red Alert, any good signs on the space-bridge?"

"Optimus, it's now or never. I've detected Blast Off and Brawl inside the tower, but Shockwave and the other Combaticons are nowhere inside of Iacon." Prowl answered.

"I still think this is a bad idea." Red Alert mumbled. "I have no doubts on Hot Spot's leadership skills or Defensor's force-fields, but they're going to a Decepticon-filled Cybertron! I think they might need more backup."

"That's why I'm going with them." Prime said. Prowl and Red Alert nodded agreeably, though Red Alert looked very worrisome.

"Protectobots, roll out!" Prime transformed into his semi alt-mode, with the Protectobots rolling behind him. Traveling out of the Ark and into the desert surrounding Mount Saint Hilary, the Protectobots and Prime tracked down the once-Decepticon controlled space-bridge and prepared to step through.

"Alright Protectobots, let's land a world of hurt on some Decepticreeps!" Hot Spot shouted, and walked into the space bridge.

"Does anyone else think that we might be walking into a trap?" Groove asked, and Streetwise chuckled.

"Really, Groove? For a pacifist you think of the most dangerous situations..."

"I just hope I get to hit Vortex in the face again!" Blades called out behind them, and First Aid was behind him. The bulky femme was uncomfortable around Blades, but sure as hell wasn't scared of Combaticons. She did have a strange addiction to Autobot badges.

"First Aid, you got everything?" Optimus asked, and the female Protectobot nodded.

"Yeah Prime. I just hope Blades keeps his distance again."

"Alright Prowl; activate the space bridge!" The sky turned a grisly gray as Prowl activated the space bridge from inside the Ark. The six Autobots flew upwards into the sky, vanishing in a multicolored explosion that blinded the Autobots inside the Ark for a small moment. And it was then they waited for their comrades and commander to respond.

* * *

-_Iacon, Shockwave's Tower-_

Optimus Prime hit the floor with a thud, thankfully landing on his pedes. Groove was trampled underneath the upside-down Hot Spot, and Blades' weapons were strewn across the floor. Streetwise and First Aid were fine, the femme doing CPU scans on everybody.

The double-sided door opened, and Optimus Prime entered the large purple room, half suspecting Shockwave to be around the corner. Instead, he found a big hall of emptiness. Blades groaned, obviously suspecting the entire Decepticon armada behind the door. First Aid ran over to the monitors and began to type in a message to Prowl. As she was busy doing that, Optimus talked to his soldiers.

"Groove, I want you and Streetwise to scour the building for any signs of Shockwave or the Combaticons. First Aid, stay here and look around for the weapon with Blades. Hot Spot with me." Optimus transformed and drove down towards the science lab, with Hot Spot behind him. Blades and First Aid were left alone in the room, and after a couple silent minutes Blades spoke up.

"Yo Aid, I'm gonna check around the tower. Wanna come with?" The copter asked.

"You get a head-start. I'm still checking the security cams and - wait."

First Aid saw a strange sight on one of the security cams. As she zoomed in, she believed there seemed to be a big green mech sitting in front of a cage...

"Is that Brawl?" Blades asked, and First Aid nodded.

"What's with the cage?" He asked a second time, but this time First Aid shrugged.

"I dunno. It's in Shockwave's underground laboratory, section D-15." First Aid transformed with Blades behind her and drove towards the small sector. The two reached a large elevator, went inside, and the big thing went down. As the door opened, they saw Brawl fast asleep in front of a small cage where there looked to hold some sort of animal.

"Hey Aid, get the organic. I'll make sure Brawl stays asleep."

First Aid complied and tiptoed over to the cage, making sure her steps were small and unrecognized. Blades followed her, but kept his pace to intercept Brawl and make sure that he didn't wake up. First Aid reached the cage, but found nothing inside. There was a small bed and a bowl of water, but if there was anything inside of the cage it was long gone.

"There's nothing here." She whispered to Blades, who was making obsene faces in front of Brawl.

"Blades, stop that."

"Or what? He'll wake up?" He snorted.

"Maybe I will." Blades' optics locked in shock to see Brawl's orange visor light up in a fury as he woke up. Blades let out a small peep as Brawl's fist met his face, sending the helicopter soaring across the room. First Aid quickly scrambled from the advancing Combaticon, grabbed Blades and ran out towards the elevator. Brawl fired bursts of his laser gun, but was unable to stop them from escaping.

Activating his telecom, he contacted both Shockwave and Onslaught. "Boss, we got Protectobots down here."

"Is Twilight secure?" Shockwave asked.

Brawl peered into the cage.

"I-er...no. She's gone." He answered awkwardly.

"You think the Autobots nabbed her?" Onslaught asked.

"Doubt it. She was gone when I woke up." Brawl answered.

"Then find her!" Shockwave ordered, and cut off the communications to him.

"I'll get Swindle and Vortex to meet our Autobot friends." Onslaught said, before his screen cut to black also.

Brawl ran towards the staircase, hot on the trail of First Aid and Blades. As the stomping of his feet got softer and softer, and then finally gone, Twilight crawled out from her hiding spot behind a large computer. It was relatively simple to use a teleportation spell at that location, and with Brawl's immense snoring to cover her, she was almost home free.

The Autobots being here gave her a huge blip of hope. If she were to try and contact them, maybe then they would get her back home!

"Alright Twilight, time to nab an Autobot!"

* * *

-_The streets of Iacon_-

Hot Spot wasn't really all that surprised when Blast Off came zooming out of the tower as soon as they exited the main gate. What really surprised him was the Combaticon announcing that he didn't really feel like fighting right now, but didn't want to get ranted by Onslaught either. So he preformed some small bombing runs that didn't do that much damage and flew off. How Onslaught manages such an egotistical upper-class mech like Blast Off was beyond him.

"Let's just be thankful that he decided he had better things to do." Optimus stated, and Hot Spot agreed.

"It's been forever since I've been back to Cybertron." Hot Spot lamented, sightseeing the reconstructed Iacon. "I just hope my team is doing the same without me." As if on cue, the Protectobot leader received a message from not too far away.

_/Hey boss, we got a situation/ _It was Streetwise, and the sounds of explosions echoing through his radio.

_/What's going on Streetwise? You found the weapon?/_

_/That, it's creator and two really big bodyguards/ _Hot Spot groaned for his team, he too being unhappy to miss out a fight.

_/Hold on tight, I'm on my way/_

"Prime, Streetwise and Groove are pinned down by some Combaticons and Shockwave. I'm gonna get back and give some back-up." Hot Spot said.

"Go. I'll catch up when I meet with Alpha Trion." Hot Spot eagerly turned back around towards Shockwave's Tower, his wheels skidding across the huge metal street. The tower wasn't too far away, and the sight of a large explosion bursting out of the tower's side meant that the battle was already under way.

_/Blades, First Aid, are you in the tower?/_

_/Yeah/ _Blades answered. _/Brawl got the drop on me, and Swindle ambushed First Aid as she got me outta there. Little slagger.../_

_/Is she okay?/_

_/She'll live./_

_/Good. Because I've got optics on Blast Off zooming towards your position, and you know what that means./_

_/Big bad battlin' Bruticus. Defensor's gonna have a bad day in Iacon./_

* * *

-_Inside Shockwave's Tower_-

Groove fired burst after burst of his rifle at Vortex, but the Combaticon's rotors kept throwing away the ammo shot at him. Streetwise countered this with his flash gun, which caused Vortex to cry out from his temporary blindness. Onslaught shoved him back and began to fire at both Protectobots, with Swindle covering with rockets.

"Come on out Streetwise!" Onslaught taunted before transforming and firing several shells into their direction. Streetwise had barely enough time to avoid the incoming artillery.

"Watch out guys, here comes the masta' of disasta'!" Out of nowhere Blades threw his sword rotor at Onslaught, who ducked and in turn the sword hit Vortex in the back. Blades barely got to cheer over his small victory before coming face-to-face with Brawl, again.

"_You again?!_" Brawl thundered.

"Oh, you've gotta be fragging kidding." Blades slapped his face with a palm and ran before Brawl could tear him to pieces. Meanwhile, First Aid was busy patching up Groove and covering Streetwise.

"When did Hot Spot say he'll be here?" Streetwise called out.

"ETA: Four minutes!" First Aid called out as she injected a small dose of glue onto Groove's exposed wires.

"Thanks Aid, we-" Groove barely finished before the sound of screaming thrusters, the skidding of metal feet, and in seconds the bulky femme had a gun at her head.

"Hmph. Looks like I found the one femme who actually isn't a dirt-scrounging thief." Blast Off's blaster whirred online. "Then again, you are a slag-sucking Autobot."

"Go frag yourself Blast Off." The femme Protectobot snarled, and Blast Off gave a deep chuckle.

"Touche. Prepare to meet your end." Blast Off's finger squeezed the trigger, but missed as Hot Spot barreled into him at the last second, transformed on top of Blast Off and hurled him towards Brawl, who was giving Blades a good pounding. Both Combaticons barreled over each other in a heap, and Hot Spot ran towards his chopper comrade.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Do I look okay?" Blades yelled back, one of his optics dangling from his face from his thrashing.

"You look prettier, Blades." Groove snickered, enjoying his small joke. Blades rolled his one good optic.

"Har har. Where's First Aid? I need my eye back inside my face." Said Protectobot ran to Blades and began reconstructing his face, much to his thanks.

* * *

-_Alpha Trion's Base, HQ of the Female Autobots_-

Optimus Prime pulled up towards the huge doorway in the ruins of Altihex, where Alpha Trion stood there waiting for him. Optimus would never forget his old mentor and friend as the former captain known as Orion Pax. Optimus transformed and walked over to the old Autobot standing in front of the doorway.

"Orion, good to see you." Trion said, his arms wide open.

"It's good to see you too Alpha Trion. Where's Elita?"

"Oh, she's working up a storm down there. Everyone's getting ready to breach Shockwave's tower."

"Then I'm afraid I bear bad news." Optimus grinned behind his mouthplate.

"What is it?" Alpha Trion's voice went soft to bear the news that Optimus had brought.

"The Protectobots have already beaten you." Optimus chuckled, and the old librarian let out a sigh of relief.

"Primus above Prime, you actually had me scared for a second." Alpha Trion chuckled at his student's joke.

_**"Yes. Hilarious."** _Alpha Trion's optics opened wide as he heard the booming voice of the Fallen at the back of his head. As his student spoke, the voice of Optimus Prime surprisingly became softer and softer, until he could hear nothing but pure white noise. He was scared no less of what was happening to him.

'_What are you doing?_' Alpha Trion yelled in his mind, hoping the Fallen had something to do with this.

**"I've come to tell you something, and I needed to get that mongrel out of our conversation."**

'_Then tell me!' _By then, Optimus had taken that Alpha Trion was staring motionlessly in front of him. He tried shaking the old Autobot and snapped his fingers in front of his hazy optics. The Fallen laughed, as he too could see Optimus trying desperately to get his old friend out of his bizarre daydream.

_"Look at that sad Prime. He's all stuck in his own little bubble, believing he can save everyone."_

'_Fallen, please, tell me what you want to tell me._' Beyond the far reaches of space, Alpha Trion could feel the Fallen getting amused at his actions.

**_"The first phase has been completed. Now all I need are the two scientists, and then the Matrix shall be MINE. Beware Alpha Trion; for if I see you, you might wish that you were dead earlier."_**

Alpha Trion's hearing came back in a second, along with Optimus' yelling. He sucked in some air to get his nerves together and talk back to his faithful companion. His optics focused on the disturbed Prime in front of him.

"Alpha Trion! Can you hear-!"

"Yes, Prime! I can hear you!" Alpha Trion said, and Optimus looked relieved.

"What happened?" He asked.

"It's nothing." Alpha Trion replied hastily. "Just getting in on old age." Alpha Trion pressed a button in front of the large door, and it swung open. Alpha Trion led the Autobot commander inside.

"Come in, Optimus. We need to get to Shockwave's tower, _soon._"


	4. Returning what was Lost: Part I

Chapter 4: Returning what was Lost

Hot Spot lunged at Onslaught with all his might tucked in a fist, but the Combaticon commander knocked the less-experienced gestalt leader with a swipe from his arm and knocked him to the side. Onslaught then kicked the downed Protectobot in the chassis, cracking the armor. Hot Spot's leg shot up from underneath Onslaught and kicked him straight in the mouthplate. Onslaught had barely any time to recover before Hot Spot lunged again and tackled him into the streets of Iacon.

Swindle and Brawl had ganged up on Groove and Streetwise. Streetwise was currently finding himself under extreme fire from Swindle's machine guns, leaving the motorcycle to attempt aggression on an already angry tank. Brawl fired an energon shell from his main cannon and knocked Groove from his spot. The Protectobot scout easily avoided another blast and fired at Brawl with his blaster, but the small gun did nothing against the tough armor on the Combaticon.

Vortex and Blades, being rival helicopters, already found themselves exchanging blows even before shooting each other. Blades had his rotor swords out and sliced at Vortex, but said Combaticon was swifter and ducked at the last moment, leaving Blades wide open for a counterattack. Vortex took the opportunity and punched Blades in the face, knocking down the Protectobot.

"And here I thought I would have some fun," Vortex sneered above Blades.

Blades responded by socking Vortex with a mighty sucker-punch across the helm. Vortex, more startled than hurt, tumbled over his own feet trying to regain some ground. Blades refused to back down and fought Vortex again.

First Aid was in serious trouble. Blast Off had relentlessly tried to bomb her into scrap, but narrowly missed because of the amount of rubble inside the large laboratory. First Aid was barely a fighter; hell, she was a battle-medic. Holding a gun was so alien to her. Blast Off had of course used that to his advantage and nearly blasted apart the femme, but First Aid was too addicted to living than dying at his hands. Biding her time, she jumped at the diving Blast Off who was preparing another bombing run. She gripped onto his wing and shoved his wing flaps down, sending both into a spiraling mess. Blast Off quickly transformed with First Aid still clinging onto his sides and touched down before knocking away the Protectobot. Bringing out his ion rifle he charged the dazed femme and fired off several rounds...

...which was blocked by a purple wall of magic.

"What on Cybertron?" Blast Off croaked, and took off to help Onslaught.

First Aid pondered what had saved her life, for she never had any sort of shield mechanism before. When she merged with the others to form Defensor, then they could form force-fields. Purple was Decepticon-related, all the time. Maybe a rogue Decepticon had saved her?

"Are you an Autobot?"

Looks like her savior wasn't a Decepticon at all, or even a Cybertronian. What really saved her was a small four-legged animal about the size of her foot. She had purple and pink hair, along with what looked like a star on her flank. On her head was a small horn, which glowed a purple hue.

"Y-Yes?" First Aid answered somewhat coherently.

"Good. Looks like I saved you from Blast Off, so now you owe me something."

The creature was being very blunt. First Aid wondered how it even got onto Cybertron, but then again they inside Shockwave's lab. Who knew whatever experiments he ran. She (the creature had a feminine voice and hips) looked rather desperate to get off Cybertron. Even then, how did she know Blast Off's name?

"What do you want?" First Aid asked, half-heartily knowing the answer.

"Get me off Cybertron. Get me back to Equestria!" She yelled out her answer, as if she had to repeat it multiple times.

First Aid had never heard of a place called Equestria before. It might be the creature's home planet. Though she cared for all life, First Aid barely had any info on whatever or wherever this 'Equestria' place may lie in space. There was no way she herself could find the creature's home planet.

"I'm sorry, but I have no idea what you're talking about." She answered.

"First Aid! Over here!" Hot Spot called over, and First Aid ran to his location, but not without taking a double-look at the small purple horse creature. Hot Spot raised his arm, and yelled out a simple command.

"Protectobots, combine into Defensor!"

* * *

To Twilight's complete shock, the five Autobots combined into one giant metal being, just like the Combaticons. The 'Protectobots', as they were called turned into a gestalt known as Defensor, somewhat of an opposite of Bruticus. He looked more peaceful and gentle than his Combaticon counterpart.

Onslaught leered at Defensor, and shouted his own command.

"Combaticons, unite into Bruticus!"

Twilight saw dark memories returning as the huge Decepticon reassembled itself before her eyes. His massive head turned at Defensor and rushed him, striking a massive blow on the chest and knocking down the Autobot gestalt. Defensor scrambled back up and kicked Bruticus in the gut, sending him back away. Bruticus rushed Defensor again and prepared to smash the Autobot titan into paste, but Defensor had a trick up his metal sleeve.

At the last moment, he stuck out his hand. In the palm of said hand was a glowing blue orb, and pointed itself at Bruticus. As the Decepticon gestalt's fist came raining down, a brilliant white force-field came out of the orb and stopped the strike completely. Bruticus' fist smashed onto the field, but did nothing to Defensor. Using this as his advantage, he disengaged his force-field, whipped out his heavy atom-smasher rifle and fired at Bruticus. The shot hit the gestalt in the chest and knocked him down hard.

But Bruticus wasn't so easily defeated. Clutching a huge steel I-beam, he smacked it straight at Defensor's head and toppled he Autobot like a logger would a tree. Twilight jumped out of the way before Defensor came crashing down near the wall she hid behind.

"**BRUTICUS CRUSH DEFENSOR!**" The Combaticon gestalt raised his foot straight above Defensor's head, the Autobot knowing there was no time to escape fate at the receiving end of Bruticus' boot. Defensor waited for the inevitable...

...which never came.

Instead, Bruticus' foot was caught in what looked like a purple sparkling cloud. The cloud suddenly whisked to the side and Bruticus was on his back. Defensor saw something climb onto his chest, and it was revealed to be a small equine creature. The creature had barely begun to speak before Bruticus rode again, this time with his fists clutched together. The creature's face turned from hop to fury as it faced the Combaticon combiner.

"_Pick on someone your own size, Bruticus!_" She yelled. Defensor gawked at the little thing that spoke with such anger at the combiner, like they had an ancient history.

"**THEN PREPARE TO DIE, TWILIGHT SPARKLE!**" Bruticus roared and brought both his fists down on the creature. And sure enough, to Defensor's ultimate surprise, she summoned her own force-field, which barely stood against the gestalt's double-fist attack. Defensor, knowing that Bruticus would do the same attack to break the force-field, tucked the small creature in his hand and reactivated his own force-field, which promptly threw Bruticus off his offensive move. Defensor stood with his organic in hand as Bruticus arose tall and angry again.

* * *

_~Shockwave's Tower~_

"This is most interesting." Shockwave concluded as he observed the ongoing battle between Defensor and Bruticus, the Autobot gaining Twilight Sparkle in the process. Though interesting, Shockwave concluded that she was no longer necessary to his objective and terminating her would prove no faults in his experiments. Shockwave also guessed that Optimus Prime would have also fought with Defensor, but the Prime had fled into the ruins of Altihex. Altihex was the last known location of the Female Autobots, and the equally elusive Alpha Trion.

Shockwave knew very little about Alpha Trion, and the hopes of breaking his hold onto Vector Sigma was always a possibility for Shockwave.

"Shockwave, we've got something coming into Cybertronian orbit." Shockwave turned to see Hurricane and Acid Storm on the monitors next to his.

"Very well Hurricane, put on the main terminal." Hurricane complied and pressed several buttons, and the screen cut to mostly heavy amounts of space. There was, however a small twinkling object in the dead center of the screen. Even with his superior vision due to the empurata surgery eons back, Shockwave could barely make out the small object.

"Zoom in, Hurricane."

"Yes sir."

The object, upon closer inspection, was revealed to be a starship similar in size and shape to the Combaticon shuttle weeks earlier. Except for the Decepticon purple, the ship was gold and white, with a much larger cockpit window. It was tinted silver, so Shockwave couldn't see the inside. However, long range scanners indicated eight life forms inside.

The same design of the crashed Combaticon shuttle and familiar colors let Shockwave conclude only one thing; the ponies had indeed returned. Despite her sudden uselessness, Shockwave believed that further examination on Twilight Sparkle would be a huge breakthrough in Decepticon technology. The others would only provide a distraction, and their termination would help the Decepticons greatly. Maybe the domination of the infernal place known as Equestria could be assured.

"Notify the sentries. Try to make them turn back." Shockwave commanded to the Seekers.

"And if they don't?" Acid Storm asked.

"Then tell the gunners to fire at will."

* * *

_~Luna 2~_

Barricade and Triggerhappy stood idle at the huge laser cannons in front of them. Triggerhappy was eager enough to try it on the incoming spacecraft and blow them into subatomic particles, but Barricade didn't really care. If it was to be destroyed, so be it. Shockwave's orders came crisp and clear. Barricade had Slipstream and Blitzwing intercept the craft and maybe persuade them to turn back.

But why Cybertron? Maybe Shockwave knew something. Blitzwing guessed that they had a missing relative that Shockwave captured, but Slipstream dismissed it as a rather small invasion force.

"Triggerhappy, get on the cannon. Blitz and 'Streamer are gonna notify us soon." Triggerhappy complied vigorously and practically launched himself at the gunner seat and raised the barrel at the starship.

Now, it was all a waiting game.

* * *

_~Inside the starship '_Harmony'~

Celestia never saw Cybertron before, but the huge metal planet took a breathtaking size. It was beautiful, lights of all colors eminating from the surface and glimmering silver lands for miles across. Cybertron had no atmosphere or a sun, but it did have two moons. One had the shape of an erratic orange, it's surface dipping inward at a point below the equator. The other moon looked like a smaller Cybertron, except with small spires branching out.

"It's so pretty." Rarity gasped, enjoying the great view of Cybertron.

"Don't let that get to yer head Rarity, there're still Decepticons down there." Applejack said next to the astonished Element of Generosity.

"Um, girls...?" Fluttershy squeaked.

"Who cares? Let's get down there and pound some Decepti-creeps!" Rainbow snarled and slammed her hooves together.

"Girls..." Fluttershy squeaked again.

"What is it Fluttershy? You got us an invite?" Pinkie asked eagerly.

"W-We've got company." As if on cue, two Cybertronian jets transformed in front of the starship. One was purple and lime while the other was purple and tan. Both of the Cybertronians were Decepticons, as seen by the purple badge on their chests and shoulders. The green and purple Decepticon was sleek and thin, unlike it's tan counterpart which had huge bulk and treads on it's shoulders. It's red visor reminded the pink mare inside the craft of her late friend Brawl.

"_Attention incoming craft, you are entering Cybertronian airspace. Turn back or we will fire._" The message was broadcasted throughout the entire ship. The ponies grew wide-eyed at the two Decepticons in front of them.

"They'll shoot us?" Rarity croaked, obviously scared for dear life.

"There's only two of them; we can take 'em on." Rainbow bashed, but was silenced by her superior.

"This ship was designed only for exploration, not combat. We have no offensive weaponry on this ship." Celestia announced.

"But we can't turn back now; Twilight's down there!" Applejack cried out in fear of losing all of their progress. The trip to Cybertron hadn't been the smoothest or the most fun. The short effects of zero gravity gave all the mares a scare, but the artificial gravity built into the shuttle quickly ended that episode. Pinkie Pie nearly had the Harmony crash into a gas giant, and Rainbow nearly got them blasted to bits by annoying some space pirates.

"Despite the fact that I would rather turn this ship around and listen to the Decepticons, I will not tolerate my student being subjected to endless torture at Shockwave's hand." Celestia said.

"But what can we do?" Fluttershy asked.

"_Attention craft, this is your last warning. Turn back or we will open fire._" The second message came alive inside the ship, prompting Celestia to start her plan.

"Rainbow, thrust forward. We're going to Cybertron." Rainbow responded by kicking the exhaust lever at the end of her chair. The ship's boosters went overdrive as it lurched forward. Rarity was knocked off her own seat by the extreme force. Around the ship, a brilliant white force-field kicked in, absorbing the ship inside. This was of Celestia's origin, a field of her own design encasing the ship. Knowing Decepticons by her encounters with both Onslaught and Soundwave, she deduced the fact that a good defense is also a good offense.

"Let's see the Decepticons shoot us now." Celestia smirked, enjoying their now entirely new path towards their lost friend. The two Decepticons in front easily avoided being hit and returned fire, which didn't penetrate.

Meanwhile, on Luna 2, Triggerhappy aimed the anti-matter acceleration cannon at the speeding ship as the smaller guns kicked in.

"Way to go Celestia!" Pinkie cheered on, seeing as the shells exploded in front of the ship in vibrant reds and yellows.

"Yes, _way to go_." Came a sarcastic voice on the opposite side of Celestia. The Sun Princess leaned around in shock to see only one figure leaning on a computer terminal drinking a mango smoothie. Said figure's body coiled like like a lazy "S" shape, it's limbs different each side.

"**_DISCORD?! _**_HOW?! WHAT?!_" Celestia nearly fell off the command chair in sheer surprise as she saw her old nemesis in the same ship as her. The ponies stared in horror as the Spirit of Disharmony made his return. Spike stared in wonder at Discord.

"Seems as though you've been busy, Celestia." Discord mused, pressing buttons left and right. "Though I've never been outside of Equestria, I imagined space being a little more, oh what's the word, _fun?_"

"I have no time for fun while Twilight is on Cybertron!" Celestia responded angrily.

"Y'know, that actually kinda rhymed." Discord made his approval by clapping his multi-animal hands. "See? Space can be fun. Just like this!"

Discord snapped his fingers. The ponies went wide-eyed, for the last time they fought the happy-go-lucky spirit the snapping of his fingers meant something really bad was just around the corner. And sure enough, a dull whine was heard around the ship. Celestia waited for everything to vanish into something ridiculous, but it never came.

"What did you do?" She asked fearfully of her ponies.

"Why deny our metal friends their fireworks?" Discord sneered, and gestured to the glowing light on the orange moon of Cybertron. Celestia paled as she realized what he did.

The shield protecting the ship was gone.

And on Luna 2, Barricade ordered Triggerhappy to fire directly at the incoming starship. He pulled the lever, and a massive pink light emanated from the thick rectangle barrel at the end of the gun. Celestia could only watch as the shot impacted the very front of the ship, completely destroying the bottom half of the ship. The engines flickered and died as the _Harmony_ began it's crash-landing onto Cybertron.

"It's like a roller coaster!" Discord snapped his fingers and a comfy sofa appeared behind him, as he was completely immune to the effects of rapid planetary descent. Celestia fumbled through the ship as it rocked back and forth furiously to get to her ponies.

"Celestia, help!" The Sun princess hopped towards the voice, which revealed to be all five ponies and the dragon.

"HOLD ON!" She screamed as the ship disintegrated as it entered the gravitational pull of Cybertron. Meanwhile near the inner commune of Kaon, Wayward and Shortcut witnessed a blinding shine near Luna 2, and what looked like flaming wreckage descending towards Iacon.

Optimus Prime and Elita-1 also looked up to see the crashing ship heading towards the former Autobot capital. They were near the ouskirts of Iacon, with the rest of the Female Autobots and Alpha Trion. The old librarian demanded to be taken to Iacon, though he never gave his reasons. But Optimus knew fear when he saw it, and Alpha Trion was terrified of something he didn't know about.

Hot Spot and Onslaught looked up to the burning carcass of the ship heading straight towards them while they were fighting. They instantly looked at each other and disengaged, knowing that continuing this fight would bring the death of them all.

"Combaticons, fall back!" Onslaught thundered and transformed, his team following suite.

"Protectobots, retreat! Retreat!" Hot Spot yelled and ran to avoid the incoming craft with his fellow squad.

And just in time too. The ship crash-landed straight onto the street in front of Shockwave's Tower, pieces and rubble flying through the air around Iacon. Skidding along for several miles, it smashed through several buildings in front of the space bridge. The white-hot metal, nearly melted by the extreme friction of the crash-landing roasted the streets of Iacon to several hundred degrees as it continued on it's swath of destruction and chaos, leaving flames in it's wake.

The ponies inside were strewn about the ship, violently shaking as it skidded across Iacon. Celestia clung on to her ponies for dear life while Discord watched in his chair.

The ship's deadly endeavor into Iacon ended when the front of it's hull crashed into Shockwave's Tower, causing the front of the heavily fortified building to shudder and windows to crack. Acid Storm and Hurrican had watched the entire thing with awe, while Shockwave took mental notes.

_'Seems the anti-matter accelerators are better for surface-to-air combat.' _Shockwave reminded himself.

Shockwave peered closely to see a group of animals crawl out of the wreckage.

Celestia was among them.

_'This just got very interesting' _Shockwave turned around and walked out of the control room and leaving the two Seekers. He descended down the elevator with the single objective of capturing Celestia, or killing her. But he could not do this alone.

-_Onslaught, this is Shockwave. I have spotted Celestia and her band of other equines leaving the wreckage.-_

_-We'll meet with you in about 300 astroseconds. Onslaught out.-_

Shockwave exited his fortress laboratory and stepped outside, easing over metal wreckage and pylons that were blasted out of the ship's external impact with his tower. Though it was easy finding them when he was up on the deck, the constant flames did deter his vision slightly. Many pieces of rubble and debris did have an equine or an alicorn shape to it.

But as he began to hear voices, he slowed to a crawl and began to advance...


End file.
